The 2024 Seoul International Book Fair will be held at COEX from June 26 to June 30. The topic this time is ‘Houyhnhnm’. This is the country that Gulliver visits during his travels in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. It is an ideal country where words such as lies, distrust, and war do not exist. On the other hand, the discriminatory aspects of European society were highlighted by depicting 'Yahoo', which has human appearance, as a beast-like being.

Based on this perspective, the Seoul International Book Fair contains a message to reduce world misery and move toward true peace. 'Gulliver', who traveled for 300 years to draw maps, and 'Jedori', a southern bottlenose dolphin who was released into the waters of Jeju after being overused in a dolphin show, are included in the poster.

The limited edition 『Houyhnhnm – White Shadows on Black Photo Paper』 contains writings and drawings by 7 novelists, 5 poets, and 3 illustrators. You can also find the book 『Gulliver's Travels』, which has been revised in the old Korean style and the parts 'Laputa' and 'Huinum' have been added.

As it is an international book fair, various countries also participate. Saudi Arabia participated as a guest country for the first time in 12 years. His nephew Alharti, an Arab writer who won the Man Booker International Prize, visits and talks about human dignity and freedom with Eun Hee-kyung. We talk about various living things with Norwegian biologist Anne Sverdrup-Tügesson and science communicator Jeongmo Lee. Famous manga authors such as Kaoru Mori of 『Bride's Story』 and Ryoko Kui of 『Dungeon Bob』 also visit the book fair.

In the domestic pavilion, approximately 350 publishers and publishing organizations will hold events such as markets, books, lectures, and autograph sessions. In the 'Book Village' where art book/independent publishers participate, you can meet 86 independent publishers in one place.

You can purchase it online or on site. The 2nd early bird is in progress and you can receive a 30% discount if you make a reservation by June 25th.

More and Sources

• https://sibf.or.kr/